


A Deadly Detour

by Shadowhunter_Artemis



Series: Quake Chronicles [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Alien vs Predator (2004), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 13:25:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18605419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowhunter_Artemis/pseuds/Shadowhunter_Artemis
Summary: A detour to a mystery pyramid soon turns rather deadly for the Doctor and Sam when it is discovered that the owners were none other than Xenomorphs. That's not the only thing they have to contend with either, there's the equally dangerous Predators. The question remains will the time travellers survive?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story picks up where chapter 23 of Samantha Tyler: 084 ends

The Doctor glanced over at Samantha as he piloted the TARDIS. She was holding onto the console, a worried look etched on her face. “What’s wrong?” he asked wondering if she was having second thoughts about this expedition that she’d been called to ‘help’ out on. If that was the case, he’d turn around in a heartsbeat. He wasn’t going to force her to continue if she was that worried, no matter what this Maxwell guy had said.

“It’s Maxwell. The man was just…too vague about what this expedition was on”, Samantha replied “and that doesn’t sit right with me. Not one bit”.

“We can turn around if you want”, the Doctor offered “It only takes a moment”.

Samantha shook her head “no, I need to see what it’s about”, she firmly, though the Doctor could detect a hint of uncertainty in her voice “those guys may be looking for something that is incredibly dangerous. If that is the case, then its all the more reason to go”.

“Are you absolutely sure?” the Doctor questioned, still fully prepared to take them somewhere…anywhere else.

Samantha nodded “I’m sure Doctor”, she replied.

“All right then”, the Doctor said. Moments later the TARDIS set down with a thump signalling that they’ve arrived. Samantha walked down the ramp but didn’t open the door straight away. Instead she touched her holster as if to reassure herself that she still had her ICER. The brunette relaxed somewhat when she felt the weapon under her fingers. She then gripped the door handle, pulled open the door and stepped out, the Doctor close behind.

“Where shall we look first?” Samantha asked looking up and down the corridor. It was deserted.

“if there's any information about the expedition, then it'll likely be on a computer. So in answer to your question, somewhere that has a computer”, the Doctor replied “an office...control centre...IT department…” Samantha raised an eyebrow at the last one.

“So...which way? Left or right?” she asked.

The Doctor glanced down both ways before deciding on turning left. Samantha followed him. They hadn't been walking long when a very familiar man of Italian descent entered the corridor from one of its off shoots. “I don’t believe it", Samantha said thoroughly surprised. Before he Doctor could ask her what was wrong, the man looked at them as her voice caught his attention.

His face broke out in a big grin and walked towards them. When the man was close enough, he hugged Samantha. “Sammy Tyler, you’re a sight for sore eyes”, he remarked.

“Backatcha Sebastian”, Samantha said happily “how have you been?”

“So-so. Been trying to look for a burial chamber of the Teotihuacans”, Sebastian replied.

“And have you?” Samantha asked, interested.

“Sadly no”, Sebastian sighed “and unfortunately we don’t have any money to continue the dig”.

“I’m sorry to hear that”, Samantha said sympathetically.

“Yeah…well that’s why I’m on this so called ‘expedition’. I’m being offered enough funds to continue the dig for quite some time”, Sebastian said “what about you? What did Wayland Industries offer you?”

“Same as you”, Samantha replied “money. But that’s not why I’m here. I’m…here to find out what this expedition is. Wayland’s flunkie was far too vague for my liking”. Sebastian grinned again.

“You haven’t changed a bit Sammy. Still one for finding out all the facts”, he remarked.

“You know me”, Samantha said with a smile of her own. The Doctor watched this interaction. It was clear that they knew each other, hence why the guy was being so friendly. Regardless of this fact, something inside was irritated at how friendly the guy was being towards his companion. The Time Lord cleared his throat to remind Samantha that he was still there. Samantha glanced at him “Oh, Sebastian this is a friend of mine: John Smith. But he mainly goes by the Doctor. Doctor, this is Sebastian De Rosa, an old colleague of mine”, the brunette said, introducing both males to each other.

“Nice to meet you”, Sebastian said politely and held out his hand. The Doctor shook it, though he used a little more force than was necessary.

“Likewise”, the Doctor said and released the guy’s hand. He felt a little proud when he was the man wince and rub his hand.

“That’s quite a grip you got there”, Sebastian remarked.

“I know”, the Doctor said. Samantha frowned, _did he just some macho handshake thing?_ She thought. If that was the case, she didn’t see any need for it. No real reason why the Doctor would do that to her old friend.

It was a bit tense for a moment or two until a blonde haired woman approached the trio. “Glad I found you Mr De Rosa, Miss Tyler. The meeting as about to start”, the woman said, with an Irish accent. She then turned and started back the way they came. Samantha and Sebastian followed after her while the Doctor trailed behind.  He was wishing that his companion had decided against coming here.

“You seem to have us at a disadvantage”, Sebastian remarked to the blonde woman “You know our names but we don’t know yours Miss…”

“Avery. Gwen Avery”, the woman supplied.

“What brings you here Gwen?” Samantha asked, interested.

“I’m here with a friend of mine Lex Woods”, Gwen replied “we were picked up while climbing part of Mount Everest. What about you two?” she asked Sebastian and Samantha.

“I was in an excavation in Mexico”, Sebastian answered.

“I got a phone call while I was staying with the Doctor”, Samantha gestured with her head to the Time Lord behind her “and we came straight here”.

Gwen led them through the corridors, explaining about who was on the expedition. There were three teams. The Scientists: Lex, Sebastian, Sebastian’s right hand man Thomas and Doctor Miller. Gwen informed Samantha that she’d be part of the Scientist Team. The Irish woman then went on to tell them who was in the other two teams; the ‘muscle’ and the drillers. “I don’t know which team you’ll be on Doctor…?”

“It’s just the Doctor”, the Time Lord said “and I’ll be on Sam’s team”. There was no way that he was going to let her be alone on a team with _Sebastian_.

Gwen led them into the briefing area where all three teams were assembled. “Glad you could join us Miss Tyler…and friend”, Maxwell said as they approached the scientist team. He looked around and noted that everyone that was supposed to be there was assembled in the briefing area. “Everybody! Please. Your attention” the lights go out and a projection is displayed on the wall in front of them all “Mr Wayland”.

There was a sound of heavy footsteps on metal. Everyone followed the sound to a walkway above them. They watched as a man in his late 40’s approached the railing. “Thank you all for coming”, he said, his voice echoing thanks to the microphone attached to his jacket “Seven days ago one of my satellites over Antarctica was hunting for mineral deposits when a sudden heat bloom beneath the earth outlined this...” an image appeared on wall. It was of some sort of structure. “The red lines indicate solid walls. Through thermal mapping we've generated a rough three dimensional image of the structure” Sebastian glanced down at his tablet which was displaying the same image that was on the wall.

“No way”, Samantha breathed staring at the image over his shoulder.

“It's massive ... Containing hundreds of rooms, all built around a central core”, Wayland continued “My experts tell me it's a pyramid.  What they can't agree on is who built it and when”.

The Doctor watched Samantha and Sebastian stare at the tablet in the latter’s hands, both occasionally pointing to the screen. “I’m seeing hints of three different cultures in the structure”, Samantha murmured quietly “Aztec, Cambodian and Egyptian. It’s an amalgamation of all three cultures”.

“Sam…I think I know what it is”, Sebastian said equally quietly “I think it’s the first pyramid ever built by a master culture which all three derived from”.

Samantha gave him a look of disbelief “you really think that’s possible?” she asked.

“I do”, Sebastian said, a tone of excitement in his voice “Sam, this could be the proof that shows those cultures are connected. This could rewrite history” he gave her a grin which she returned. The Doctor scoffed under his breath. He didn’t understand why they were so fascinated by this find, especially Samantha. He had a time machine. He could prove without a shadow of a doubt whether there was a connection between the cultures. Heck, he could take his companion to meet the people of this ‘master culture’ should they exist.

“I think your experts are right”, Sebastian said loudly having just about heard what Wayland had said about it being a blend of all three cultures that himself and Samantha had just been discussing.

“Which one?” Wayland asked.

“All of them”, Samantha answered.

“Meaning what exactly?” Lex questioned. Sebastian stood up and walked over to the wall with the projection. He turned back and gestured to Samantha to join him. She did so.

“This pyramid contains features from all three cultures”, the Italian archaeologist said “it might be the first pyramid ever built”.

“Built by whom?” Doctor Miller asked. Samantha and Sebastian exchanged looks, both barely able to contain their excitement about this discovery.

“By the first civilisation”, Samantha answered trying to keep her voice calm and professional. It wouldn’t do for her to be jumping up and down like a school girl who’d just been asked out by the boy she’d been crushing on for ages.

“Thank you”, Wayland said. Samantha and Sebastian went back to their seats.

“But how can anyone build a pyramid out here?” Miller asked.

“Ancient maps show Antarctica free of ice. It’s likely the continent was once habitable”, Thomas explained.

“Well I can’t tell you who built it but if I could take a sample from it, I could tell you how old it is”, Miller suggested to Wayland.

“Well Doctor Miller, I'm offering to put you right next to this thing”, Wayland said.

“Uh what caused the heat bloom?” Thomas asked.

  
“I don’t know”, Wayland replied. _I could find that out with the TARDIS_ the Doctor thought _no need for all these experts to go looking for it. I could figure out what it is, what caused the heat bloom and be back in time for tea._

“Where exactly on the ice is this?” Lex asked.

“Bouvetoya Island. But it's not on the ice. It's two thousand feet under it”, Wayland answered. Samantha raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t the only one in disbelief, she could see that Gwen’s friend Lex was too.

“Mr. Quinn”, Maxwell said looking at the leader of the drilling team.

“Mr. Stafford, you're looking at the best drilling team in the world. We'll chew to that depth in seven days”, Quinn said confidently, his crew nodding in agreement.

“And add three weeks on top of that to train everyone here”, Gwen spoke up.

“We don't have that kind of time Miss Avery”, Wayland said “I'm not the only one with a satellite over Antarctica.  Others will be here soon”.

“Maybe I wasn’t being very clear”, Gwen said, her Irish accent more pronounced “No one in this room is ready for this trip”.

“That's why I invited you here”, Wayland said.

“Bouvetoya is one of the most isolated places in the world”, Lex informed him “The nearest land is a thousand miles away. There's no help if we run into trouble”.

“You're right, it's a no man's land” Wayland walked down the steps “But the train has left the station. I think I speak for everyone aboard this ship – “ he nods to the projection on the wall “This is worth the risk”.

Lex stood up “Find another guide”, she told Wayland before walking out. Gwen got up from her seat and hurried after her friend.

\-------------

Lex looked up from her packing when her cabin door opened. It was Gwen. “You aren’t going to ask me to stay are you?” she asked.

Gwen shook her head “No”, she replied “You don’t want to go because of the danger, I get it. I’m certainly not going to make you stay. If I have to be honest, I’m kinda glad that you’ve decided to leave. Not that I don’t think you’re not capable, you certainly are…”

“You just worry about me”, Lex finished giving her friend a small smile.

“I can’t help it Lex. This is who I am”, Gwen said. Lex zipped up a small bag and put it into her backpack.

“Promise me that you’re going to be careful”, the American said.

“Come on, Lex. Its me. I’m always careful”, Gwen said.

Lex gave her friend a look, clearly saying that she didn’t believe her “Gwen, you’re more of a daredevil than I am”, she stated “just promise that you will be careful. I wasn’t joking when I said you’d be cut off from any outside help if you go on that island”.

“I know” Gwen stepped forward “Lex, I swear on our friendship, I will be careful”.

Lex smiled, glad that the Irish woman had made that promise. Though it gave her a little assurance, it still didn’t mean she wasn’t going to worry about Gwen. She was being all rights, a bad ass but she wasn’t invincible. And she had no idea if Wayland’s team of ‘muscle’ will have Gwen’s back when they head out onto the island.

The door to her cabin opened again. This time it was Maxwell. “Spoke with Mr Weyland. Money's been wired to your foundation's account.  Chopper's refueling to fly you back home”, he informed Lex.

“Who’s Lex’s replacement?” Gwen asked.

“Gerald Murdoch”, Maxwell answered before he turned and walked away. Gwen and Lex exchanged glances before they hurried after the man.

~TARDIS~

The Doctor frowned at the 3D image of the pyramid on the TARDIS scanner. Though Samantha and… the other guy were rather excited over it, the more the stared at the image, the more unsettled he got. He rubbed his face, he needed to talk to Samantha, he needed to tell her this wasn’t a good idea. He turned and left the console room, heading for the room the TARDIS had set up so that his companion could train.

The Doctor stopped in the doorway and watched as she beat the life out of the punching bag with a variety of punches and kicks. He’d only seen her train once; right after she’d gotten a call from Ward to say that Coulson had been kidnapped. In fact that was when the TARDIS had created a room so she could prepare for whatever she had to face to get the leader of the small unit back. If he had to be honest there was something about her fighting that he kinda liked. He watched as she kicked the bag violently making it swing off the hook. She walked over, picked the bag up and put it back on the hook. That was when she noticed the Time Lord standing there.

“Oh, didn’t know you were there”, she said wiping tendrils of hair that had escaped from her ponytail away from her face “what’s up?”

“It’s the pyramid. I don’t think we should go”, the Doctor said.

“Why not?” Samantha asked tugging off her gloves.

“The whole thing is making me a little uneasy. Doesn’t help where this pyramid is”

Samantha raised her eyebrows “ _You’re_ uneasy? The guy who faced the Nestene Consciousness…threatened Slitheen and who held a gun on that Dalek… and you’re uneasy about a mystery pyramid?”

“Yes, I am”, the Doctor said.

“Well…you can stay here if you want. But I’m going”, Samantha said “that pyramid may well be the very first one ever. Its too good a chance to pass up”.

“Sam what kind of person would I be if I let you go there on your own?” the Doctor asked.

“But I won’t be on my own. I have Sebastian. Not to mention the team of security going with us”, Samantha reminded him.

“How did you meet the guy anyway?” the Doctor suddenly questioned “I didn’t think he was the kind of guy you’d be friends with”.

“Doctor there’s quite a few things you don’t know about me which include who I’m friends with”, Samantha said “besides why are you asking about him? Don't tell me your jealous?" Sam asked in a teasing tone.

"No, just wondering how you met that’s all," Doctor said looking away avoiding Sam's teasing grin.

“If you must know I met Sebastian on a dig in Montana. We were part of Alan Grant’s team in his search for dinosaur bones”, Samantha explained “did find a few interesting skeletons including velociraptor. Come to think of it, I wonder what Doctor Grant is doing now?” she wondered aloud “I’ll have to give him a ring some time”.


	2. Chapter 2

Samantha smacked the Doctor’s hand away from his coat as he fiddled with it for the 20th  time. “Will you stop doing that”, she hissed.

“Its uncomfortable”, the Doctor complained “I still don’t understand why I have to wear this stupid get up. I can withstand the cold much better than you humans without the need of many layers”.

“I know you can but as I’m the only one who knows you’re an alien, you need to blend in”, Samantha said.

“Not sure I can stand being bundled up like this for a long time”, the Doctor grumbled.

“Well you can either suck it up for as long as you have to or you can stay in the TARDIS”, Samantha said “I wouldn’t be upset if you chose the latter. I’ll be perfectly fine with Sebastian and Gwen and Lex…if she changes her mind”.

The Doctor stopped in the middle of his 21st fiddle of his coat. He didn’t want to leave Samantha alone with Sebastian. So he could endure wearing the stupid winter coat, at least for a little bit.

“I told you she'd stay”, Miller remarked noticing Lex making an appearance in the Docking Bay, followed by Gwen “It's my animal magnetism. It's irresistible”.

Samantha snorted, having heard what he said even from where she and the Doctor was standing. “I seriously doubt he has animal magnetism”, she said quietly to the Doctor “even if he did, this girl would be able to resist it very easily”.

“He not your type?” the Doctor asked.

“Nope”, Samantha answered popping the p “I prefer those who are clever, not bad looking and have a sense of adventure”. The Doctor couldn’t help but think that he’d fit all of those. Was she talking about him specifically? Or was it her archaeology friend? Or was it someone completely different…possibly from SHIELD?

He was broken from his thoughts when Lex started to speak. “It's my job to keep you alive on this expedition and I need your help to do that. Since I don't have the time to properly train you, I'm laying down three simple rules. One: No one goes anywhere alone. Ever.  Two: Everyone will maintain constant communication. Three: Unexpected things are gonna happen. When they do…no one tries to be a hero. Understood?” She looked around at the group who all nodded.

“You gonna stick to those rules?” Samantha asked the Time Lord.

“I will”, he answered “but your safety is my main concern. If anything where to happen to you, they won’t be able to stop me from being as Lex put it, a hero”.

Samantha smiled “I suppose that makes you my alien knight in a leather jacket”, she joked.

The Doctor grinned at her “yes, it does”, he said.

Lex wandered over to Adele Rousseau who was cleaning her handgun. Gwen was also standing next to her. She too was checking over her own weapon. “Seven seasons on the ice and I've never seen a gun save someone's life”, Lex remarked.

“I don't plan on using it”, Adele answered.

“Then why bring it?” Lex asked.

“Same principle as a condom. I'd rather have one and not need it, then need it and not have one”, Adele told her “I'm Adele”.

“Lex”, Lex introduced.

“I know, Gwen told me”, Adele said nodding to the Irish woman.

“What did you tell her, Gwen?” Lex asked wondering if she should be concerned.

“All good things, don’t worry Lex”, Gwen assured her friend. 

“She’s right”, Adele spoke up “Gwen didn’t say a bad word about you” she put the gun down “I'm glad that you decided to stay”.

“Well…couldn't let you have all the fun or Gwen have all the fun”, Lex said and the three women exchanged smiles.

\------------------

Lex raised an eyebrow as she watched Sebastian fiddle with a Pepsi cap that was attached to a piece of cord around his neck. “What’s with the bottle cap?” she asked as the Haaglund they were in trundled along the snow.

“Valuable archaeological find”, Sebastian answered with a smile which Lex returned. Sebastian glanced outside at the moon.

“When I was a kid, growing up in Sicily, you know what they'd call a moon that big?” he asked Lex. The woman shook her head. “La luna del cacciatore” a half a second later Sebastian translated “'Hunter's Moon'”.

In another Haaglund, Samantha was also looking out at the moon “La luna del cacciatore”, she murmured.

“I’m sorry?” Gwen asked confused because unlike the Doctor, she didn’t understand Italian.

“Hunter’s Moon”, the Doctor said “she called it a Hunter’s Moon”.

“Sebastian once mentioned that’s what people in Sicily called a moon that size”, Samantha explained.

“Of course he did”, the Doctor muttered earning a look from his companion. Though he’d insisted that wasn’t jealous of her old friend, Samantha couldn’t help but think the Doctor really was jealous.

Gwen glanced out of the window “Hunter’s Moon”, she repeated “pretty appropriate for me”.

“How so?” Samantha asked.

“I’m a bit of a survivalist, fairly good at hunting too”, Gwen answered “that’s all thanks to my dad. He taught me everything I knew” the Irish woman smiled fondly as she remembered the many hunting trips she had been on with her Dad.

\--------------

Sometime later they reached the Whaling station, the location where they were going to drill down to get to the pyramid. Adele frowned when she saw Samantha strapping on a leg holster. “What kind of Archaeologist carries a weapon?” she asked Gwen, Lex and Sebastian.

“Uh…I do”, Samantha said looking up, having heard her “so does River, my mentor”. She slid her ICER into the holster and stood up. She took out a small handheld tablet from her pocket and began to pull things up onto the screen.

“There’s also Indiana Jones”, Gwen added.

“Don’t forget Daniel Jackson”, Miller said as he passed by. Samantha glanced up from the tablet and frowned as she watched the retreating scientist. _What was he up to?_ She thought. Lex had made her rules very clear, no one goes off alone.

“And Lara Croft”, Sebastian put in.

“She’s a video game character Sebastian”, Lex said.

“Still an archaeologist with a gun”, Samantha spoke up, stuffing the tablet into her coat pocket and hurried after Doctor Miller.

~Whaling Station: mess hall~

Samantha clapped a hand on Miller’s shoulder when she managed to catch up to him as he paused in the doorway of what appeared to be a mess hall. “Bloody hell!” he swore having jumped out of his skin due to not expecting Samantha to do that. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“That wasn’t my intention”, Samantha said “but you were going off on your own. That’s breaking one of Lex’s rules”.

Miller sighed “I know, I was just curious”, he said.

“Careful Doctor Miller, curiosity killed the cat”, Samantha told him in a warning tone.

“Good thing I’m not a cat then”, Miller countered. He glanced around the frozen room and then back at Samantha “I don’t suppose you’ll mind taking my picture?”

“Of course not”, Samantha said and held out her hand. Miller handed her the camera and moved into position. Samantha took a couple steps back, raised the camera and pressed the button. The flash of light briefly illuminates the room. Then there was a scuttling sound.

“Did you hear…?”

“Yes, I did”, Samantha answered, lowering the camera.

They heard the scuttling again. Samantha shoved the camera back at Miller and got out her torch and ICER. Slowly she moved the torch around the room, trying to find the source of the noise. It came again, this time behind them. Samantha and Miller spun around.

“Come out of there or... you'll be wearing your ass for a hat”, the scientist threatened.

Samantha cast an ‘WTF’ look at Miller while keeping her torch and ICER trained on the darkness “Is that supposed to sound tough?” she asked. His voice had wavered during the threat which made it less of one.

“Yeah…kind of”, Miller admitted.

“I hate to tell you this but it didn’t”, Samantha said “not one bit”. They both heard the noise again much louder. Whatever it was, it was getting closer. Samantha moved in front of Miller protectively. Last thing she wanted was to lose someone so early on and someone who is currently under her care.

And then…

A penguin emerged from behind a table.

“It's a penguin”, Miller stated, giving a nervous laugh.

“Yes, it is”, Samantha putting her ICER back into her holster but kept her torch on the penguin “come on, lets get back to the others”. She took Miller’s arm and led him out of the room.

The moment they left the room, they see Sebastian looking flushed and excited. He darted forward and grabbed Samantha’s hand “you’re not going to believe this”, he said and pulled her away, around the corner to where a perfectly round hole in the snow and ice. The Doctor noticed Sebastian holding Samantha’s hand and frowned. Thankfully the Italian wasn’t holding her hand for very long.

“It’s drilled at a perfect 30 degree angle”, Quinn stated.

“How far does it go down?” Lex asked peering into the hole.

“All the way to the pyramid”, Weyland answered. Quinn nods to Sven and he lights a FLARE, then drops it down the shaft. They watch the flare fall down the hole until it was swallowed up by the darkness.

“How was it done?” Miller asked.

“Thermal equipment of some kind”, Quinn replied.

“Like yours?” Weyland questioned and Quinn shook his head.

“This one is more advanced”, he said noting the way it easily cut through both wood and metal of the nearby structure “Incredibly powerful. I've never seen anything like it”. Samantha moved over to stand beside the Doctor.

“Do you know what could’ve made the hole?” she asked quietly.

“No human machine that I know of could do this”, the Doctor said “as far as I know, they’re not advanced enough”.

“Maybe it’s a prototype drill?” Samantha suggested “or some kind of laser?”

“Possibly”, the Doctor murmured.

“Well its most definitely _not_ alien”, Samantha stated.

“I wouldn’t rule it out”, the Doctor said “I scanned the hole with the sonic. Its been created in the last 24 hours”.

“That’s impossible surely?”

“I’d love to agree with you but…” the Doctor gestured to the hole. It didn’t take very long for Weyland to reveal what the Doctor had discovered with the sonic screwdriver. Then a flurry of activity began as preparations were made for the descent.

~ice grotto: 2,000 feet below~

“You ok?” the Doctor asked Samantha. The descent hadn’t been too bad except when Weyland had been detached from his line due to the winch getting jammed. On his way down, the man had knocked into Samantha very nearly making her fall too. Thankfully the Doctor, managed to stop that from happening as he was next to her.

“Yeah, I’m fine”, Samantha replied. She looked up the hole “Well…that’s something I can cross off my bucket list. Rappel down a two thousand foot hole in the Antarctic”.

“You have a bucket list?” the Doctor asked.

“I didn’t use to have one”, Samantha said checking her holster to make sure that it was still secure. She glanced up at the Doctor “and then I met you”.

“You’ll have to show it to me sometime. Then we can do more stuff that you can cross off”, the Doctor suggested.

Samantha smiled “I’d like that”.

“I don't understand...” Weyland said looking around confused “No equipment. No sign of another team”.

“The tunnel didn’t dig itself Weyland”, Gwen stated.

“Actually I’ve seen it happen”, the Doctor said to Samantha.

“Really?” the brunette asked, interested.

“Yeah, I was on this planet…” the Doctor started when Connors suddenly shouted

“We have power!”

“Let's light her up”, Maxwell ordered. Then several powerful floodlights turn on forcing them all to shield their eyes as the light was reflected off of the ice.

“Uh…Sam?” the Doctor said lowering his hand, his eyes widening at what he saw.

“What?” Samantha asked, hands still raised to her eyes.

“You might want to move your hands”, the Doctor suggested. Samantha lowered her hands and gasped. Towering above them was the pyramid which was far more magnificent than the 3D model could give it credit. The brunette snapped a picture.

“Congratulations,  Mr. Weyland.  Looks like you'll be leaving your mark after all”, Lex said glancing at the man.

Weyland turns to the rest of the group “Thank you all for this. Let's make history”.


	3. Chapter 3

The group slowly and carefully ascended the ice covered steps towards a doorway that was about halfway up. The Doctor stuck close to Samantha, steadying her when she slipped a couple of times.

“Blimey this is one big entranceway”, Samantha remarked looking up “I think its taller than the TARDIS console room”, she added in a quieter tone to the Doctor.

“I’d say you’re right”, The Time Lord agreed. The pair followed the others into the entrance hall. As they walked the Doctor took in the architecture, trying to see if it was familiar to him. It was not.    

Sebastian paused by one of the stone columns when he noticed a rather recognisable symbol. He wiped away the dust to reveal three lines of hieroglyphs. “I recognize the Egyptian.  Not the other two”, Thomas stated coming to stand beside him.

“The second line is Aztec”, Sebastian told him  “Pre-conquest era.  Third is Cambodian. Looks like a mixture of Bantu and Sanskrit”.

“Then you were right. The pyramid does contain all three cultures”, Weyland said.

“It does appear that way, yes", Samantha agreed.

“...you may -- choose -- to enter”, Thomas translated looking at the top line.

“Who taught you to translate?” Sebastian asked his right hand man.

“Funny, he looks just like you", Thomas shot back.

“Anyway…” Sebastian continued as if Thomas hadn't spoken “Its ‘Those who choose may enter’”. 

“You should really brush up on your translation skills, both of you”, Samantha said stepping up “it actually says ‘Only the...chosen ones may enter’”.

The Doctor smirked at the fact that she'd put both of them to shame by telling them what it actually said. “I wasn't that far off", Sebastian said.

“But you were still wrong", Samantha said with a smile. She wasn't about to tell them the reason she knew what it said. That would involve telling them about the Doctor's alien status and she wasn't going to tell them that, ever. Last thing she wanted was to tell them the truth and for them to freak out. Possibly even try to harm the Time Lord or worse try to capture him for ‘study’. She wasn't going to let either of those things happen. They want to hurt him, they'll have to go through her first.

They continued on, all except the Doctor who’d noticed some sort of carving on one of the walls. It was of two figures locked in combat. He frowned as he moved closer. The figures looked rather familiar but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “Doctor, you ok?” Samantha asked coming over. She’d glanced back when she realised that he hadn’t followed.

“Yeah…fine”, the Doctor replied. Samantha followed his gaze to the carving.

“Do you know who or what those figures are?” she questioned.

“I’m not sure”, the Doctor answered.

“Maybe you could figure it out while we catch up with the others?” Samantha suggested. The Doctor nodded and they quickly went off in the direction the rest of the group had gone.

The pair enter the next chamber to see a large chamber with 7 long stone slabs in a rough circle, each with a mummified body on it. The others had spread out either studying the bodies or the slabs or the rather creepy carvings on the walls. “This is where they offered the "chosen ones" to the gods”, Thomas explained.

“Those that were chosen would lie here”, Sebastian added nodded to the bodies “They weren't bound or tied in any way.  They went to their deaths willingly.  Men and Women. It was considered an honour”.

“Its hardly an honour to just lie there and let yourself be killed”, Samantha scoffed “I for one wouldn’t go out without a fight”.

Gwen grinned at her “You’re a girl after my own heart, Sam”, she remarked.

Lex traced a bowl like indentation at the base of the slab “What's this bowl for?” she asked.

“Some think it's where the heart was placed after it was torn from the body”, Sebastian answered.

“And that’s why I don’t like places like this”, Samantha muttered to the Doctor.

“You squeamish?” the Doctor asked.

Samantha shook her head “no, I just don’t like sites to do with sacrifices. Damn awful places if you ask me. A sacrifice is just murder plain and simple. And people in the past would use any excuse to kill some poor innocent soul. Its disgusting”.

“Remind me to stay well away from those time periods then”, the Doctor said making a note of her explanation.

“Sam could you come here for a second?” Thomas called. The brunette walked over to see him studying the hieroglyphics written on the edge of a sacrificial slab.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I need a little help with translating this”, Thomas admitted.

“Of course”, Samantha said. She took a moment to study the symbols before she translated out loud “’They gave their lives ... So that the hunt might begin’”.

“What does that mean? The hunt?” Thomas questioned.

“I have no idea”, Samantha replied “and honestly I don’t think I wanna find out”. While they were talking, the Doctor was closely examining one of the bodies. He frowned at the hole in the ribcage, the bones were bent straight out as if something had broke out of the body. Why did that seem so familiar to him somehow?

“Looks like something broke out of the body”, Gwen remarked eyeing the body over his shoulder.

“That’s exactly what’s happened”, the Doctor stated, straightening up.

Maxwell glanced down at the grate by him feet and frowned. He took out a glowstick, activated it and dropped it through the grate. “What have you found Max?” Weyland asked.

“A shaft that goes straight down. There’s a whole other room down there”, he reported watching the way the glowstick light up the sides of the shaft as it fell.

“All right” Weyland straightened up and addressed the entire group “we’re going to take a look at that lower level”, he stated before crossing the room to another doorway, roughly opposite to the one they came in.

Lex, Sebastian and Samantha followed Weyland through the doorway. The Doctor made to go after his companion when Maxwell stopped him “I want you and the other one…” he nodded at Thomas to stay here”.

“That’s not going to happen. I stay with Sam”, the Doctor said firmly.

“Don’t worry Doctor, we’re perfectly capable of protecting your friend”, Maxwell assured him.

“Really? Well don’t be offended if I don’t believe you”, the Doctor said bluntly “she is my friend and I have a duty of care towards her. And no one, _no one_ is going to stop me sticking by her side. Not even you. Got that?”

Maxwell nodded “Yeah, got it”, he replied. He got the distinct feeling by the way he was talking that Samantha was far more than just a friend. But he stepped aside and let the Doctor pass. However, he moved back and told Thomas to stay behind with Rousseau and a handful of the ‘muscle’.

\-----------------

“So...you have a duty of care towards Sam, huh?” Gwen remarked as she walked next the Doctor.

“What of it?” the Doctor asked.

“Nothing, it's just that well...the way you said that seemed at least to me that Sam was something more than just a friend”, Gwen said.

“Sam and I are just friends. And while we travel together it is my responsibility to take care of her", the Doctor told the Irish woman.

“Ok Doctor”, Gwen said deciding not to push the matter. If he wanted to insist they were just friends, then she'll just leave it at that. She did have to wonder how long it'll be before he finally realised that he was in love with Samantha Tyler.

~sarcophagus chamber~

The group enter a vast chamber. At the back was a raised platform with a set of steps leading up to it. On the top step is the glowstick that Maxwell had dropped through the grate. They’d reached the room directly below the sacrificial chamber.

Samantha walked up the steps and noticed what appeared to be a sarcophagus. “Sebastian! Come take a look at this”, she said hurrying over to it. The Italian quickly joined her at the sarcophagus.

“Its quite a work of craftsmanship”, he remarked crouching down to look at the carvings on the side.

“That’s not all it is”, Samantha said tracing one of the three dials on the top “its got some kind of combination lock”. Sebastian stood up and saw she was right.

“I’ve never heard of sarcophagus with a lock before”, he said.

“Perhaps the ‘master culture’ was far more advanced than the three cultures that stemmed from it”, Samantha said.

“Whatever the case, can you two open it?” Weyland asked.

“Shouldn’t be too hard”, Sebastian answered “this is the Long Count, the Aztec calendar” he then pointed to each dial consecutively “Days, months, years”.

“But do we really want to open it?” Samantha asked “I mean, the lock is on there for a reason. Usually when people put a lock on something, they don’t want anyone getting in” she looked at the sarcophagus “maybe in this case they didn’t want something from getting out”.

“Whether it’s one reason or the other, I would still like you to open it”, Weyland said.  The Doctor could see that his companion was still unsure and decided to step in.

“I think you should listen to her”

“I have listened Doctor and I would still like her to open it”, Weyland said.

“You have no idea what could in there”, the Doctor argued.

“Do you know what’s in there?” Weyland asked.

“No, but…” the Doctor started when Weyland cut in with

“All the more reason to open it” he turned to Samantha “Miss Tyler…?”

The brunette sighed. There wasn’t anyway she was going to get out of this, not when Weyland was that determined. “Fine, I’ll open it” she studied the glyphs by the dials “looks like the dials are set for…” she frowned “1904? That can’t be…”

Sebastian checked them over “no, you’re right it does say 1904”, he reported “that’s 110 years ago exactly”.

“Someone opened this over a hundred years ago?” Lex asked, surprised.

“Only one way to find out”, Sebastian answered. He turned the first dial and it moves easily “Sammy what’s today’s date?”

“March 10th”, Samantha replied.

“10…03 ... 2014”, Sebastian said, turning the first dial to 10.

Samantha turned the second to 03. She and the others watched as Sebastian moved the third dial to the correct year. They all quickly backed up when the lid of the sarcophagus slid open by itself.

Sebastian cautiously approaches the edge, and slowly peers inside.  His eyes widened at what he saw. “Take a look at this”, he said. Samantha joined him and gaped at what was inside. It was not what she was expecting.

“Well…that’s not what was expecting to find”, she remarked. The Doctor’s hearts very briefly stopped when he saw what was in the sarcophagus. He knew that weapon design. Those were Yautja guns.


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor stared at the weapons and a feeling of fear came over him. Not for himself but for Samantha. He should have just turned the TARDIS around when he had the chance. They _never_ should've come here.

“Any idea what those are?” Miller asked peering down at the guns.

“Nope”, Sebastian answered. He glanced at Samantha.

“Well, I hate to state the obvious but they’re guns”, the brunette replied “rather advanced too”.

“Maybe we can use them”, Maxwell said. He reached in to grab one when Samantha smacked his hands.

“Have you never seen Indiana Jones? Rule One: never pick up the shiny idol aka the guns without checking that there isn’t some sort of booby trap”, Samantha said.

“You really think these are rigged with a booby trap?” Maxwell asked with a fair bit of sarcasm.

“I think you’d be an idiot not to consider it”, Samantha countered, matching his tone.

 “Sam, could I have a word?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah, sure”, Samantha replied. She straightened up and followed the Doctor over to a corner where they wouldn’t be overheard “What’s up?”

“I know who those guns belong to”, the Doctor said.

“That’s good but why do we need to be over here for you to tell me that?” Samantha asked.

“Because the owners of those guns are not from Earth”, the Doctor said.

Samantha’s eyes widened at that “So who or what are the owners?” she asked lowering her voice.

“They’re called Yautja, a very highly skilled, deadly race. Some planets call them Predators”, the Doctor explained.

“Predators”, Samantha repeated “if their guns are here then they’re the ones those glyphs spoke of in the sacrificial chamber. So what’s their prey? Is it us or are they after something else and we’re just an added bonus?”

“I’m afraid it’s the latter”, the Doctor said seriously “and the ‘prey’ their hunting is just as dangerous. Which is why we need to get out of here as fast as we can”.

“Think that’s gonna be easier said than done”, Samantha told him “the mere mention of ‘alien’ will have them asking 20 million questions that we honestly don’t have time for”.

Thankfully Lex had decided to take charge of the situation for them. “We've been out long enough for today”, she stated “We're going to set up base camp tonight at the whaling station and we'll get back at it first thing tomorrow morning”.

“You can go back to base camp Ms. Woods.  We're staying here”, Maxwell said.

“No. You wanted to leave without proper prep and we did. You wanted to be the first here, we are. You've claimed the find. It's yours. Now we move as a team and we're done for today”, Lex said firmly. Gwen couldn’t help but smile at how her friend was taking charge. She’d always been pretty good at that.

Maxwell glanced at his boss who nodded in agreement. “You heard her”, he said.

“What do you want to do with these, Mr Weyland?” Maxwell asked nodding to the guns.

“Take them. We’ll run further tests on the surface”, Weyland answered. Connors and Verheiden manage to take out two of the three guns before Sebastian realised what they were doing.

“No...don't touch them!” he exclaimed. Maxwell just looked at him for a moment before taking the final gun out. Suddenly the sarcophagus slid shut with a bang.

“Are you really that thick?” Samantha demanded storming right up to Maxwell “I told you _not_ to take the guns out! Who the hell knows what you’ve kind of trap you’ve just triggered!”

As if the pyramid knew she just said that, the door they’d come through started to slide shut. Everyone made a break for it but they were too slow. The second the door shut, a set of steps on the platform moved to reveal a passageway. Samantha looked at Maxwell with this expression on her face that told the Doctor she was about to either punch the guy or throttle him. Not wanting her to do either as it was hardly the time, he grabbed hold of her.

“Doctor, let me go”, Samantha demanded, wriggling in his arms.

“Not, until you calm down”, the Doctor said. When she didn’t continued to try and get out of his grip, he added “you can punch him after we get to safety”.

Samantha stopped struggling and glanced at him “Promise?” she asked.

“Promise”, the Doctor said. He slowly released his hold on Samantha just in case she had any bright ideas to go for the man the second he let her go. When he was satisfied that wasn’t the case, he stepped away from her slightly.

Gwen walked up to Maxwell and smacked him upside the head. “Are ya stupid or something!? When we say don’t touch, it means don’t touch”, she said crossly, her Irish accent becoming more pronounced in her anger.

“Maybe you should-“ Samantha started when they all suddenly heard terrified screams above them along with several gun shots.

“What the hell is going on up there?” Gwen asked looking up, worried about the team they’d left behind. Sebastian and Maxwell both got on the radio and tried to get hold of Thomas and Rousseau. But to no avail.

“Is there anything you didn't tell me about this place?” Lex asked Weyland.

“That’s it. Your guess is as good as mine”, Weyland answered.

“Well, whatever it is, we're sure as hell not prepared for it”, Samantha stated. Ward had trained her to be prepared for anything but she hadn’t exactly anticipated this situation.

“She’s right”, Lex agreed “So we're going to round up the rest of the team and get to the surface.  Let's move”. She started towards the steps when Maxwell and the other ‘muscle’ dropped their cases to reveal something that had more firepower than a handgun. “What are you doing?” Lex asked.

“My job. Yours is over”, Maxwell slammed a magazine into his weapon and does a ‘lock and load’ manoeuvre without taking his eyes off of Lex. The black woman didn’t flinch which impressed Samantha.

“My job is over when everyone is back on the boat safely and that gun doesn't change anything”, Lex said calmly before she walked off towards the steps. Gwen followed closely after her in case Maxwell tried anything. She didn’t think he would, what with everyone else present but she couldn’t take the chance with her friend’s safety.

Lex glanced at her digital compass from the entrance of the newly opened passage. “This bearing should take us back to the entrance. We make it to the surface and we regroup at the Whaling station”, she said.

“What about Thomas and Rousseau?” Sebastian asked.

“We'll find them on the way out”, Lex answered and with that she entered the passage. Gwen followed her, as did the Doctor and Samantha.

“Stone ... Verheiden ... Cover our backs”, Maxwell ordered before he too entered the passage.

“The heat bloom that your satellite detected makes more sense now”, Miller remarked to Weyland.

“What do you mean?” the older man asked.

“A building this sophisticated would require a major energy source”, Miller said “That's what the satellite detected, the power plant for this Pyramid firing up... preparing”.

“Preparing for what?” Weyland questioned. Before Miller could answer him, Lex called them both.

~chamber of the gods~

The new passageway opened out into another decorated corridor, with glyphs and drawings carved into the walls. The corridor is lined with large statues. “Those the Yautja?” Samantha asked the Doctor quietly.

“Yep”, he replied.

“Predator is an apt name for them”, she remarked. They did look rather fearsome.

“Recognize what's on their shoulders?”  Lex asked Sebastian as they looked at one of the statues.

“Yeah”, he replied and walked over to the wall to get a closer look at the glyphs carved on it.

“We worshipped these things?” Maxwell questioned, eyeing the statues.

“I think so…” Sebastian glanced at Samantha “Sammy, could you have a look at this?” he asked.

“Sure”, Samantha walked over and looked over the bit Sebastian was studying.

“This does say we worshipped them, right?”

Samantha nodded “Yeah, you’re right. It does”, she confirmed “and those guns you so stupidly took from the sarcophagus…” she shot Maxwell a look but he just ignored it “belong to them”.

Lex glanced at her compass again “lets keep moving, only another 200 yards to the entrance”, she reported. They continued on.

“Sam, what’s wrong?” the Doctor asked seeing her frown.

“I don’t know… I’ve just got this feeling… that we’re not alone”, Samantha told him. The Doctor put an arm around her and glanced at their surroundings warily. Samantha wasn’t the only one to get this feeling, Gwen was getting a similar one.

Her father had always told her that she should trust these feelings as it could mean the difference between life and death. Her eye’s flickered from statue to statue, seeking out anything that confirmed there was someone else besides the group present.

Suddenly there was a loud clatter making them all jump and spin around. “Take cover!” Maxwell ordered. The Doctor pulled Samantha to an alcove in the wall. Gwen did the same for Lex, who’d grabbed Weyland on the way. Sebastian and Miller took cover as well.

Samantha grabbed the Doctor’s arm as a spear whistles through the air, impaling Bass in the chest. The force was enough to pin his body against the wall. Maxwell, Connors, Verheiden and Gwen opened fire on the Predator. The Doctor held his companion close to protect her from bits of stone and dust that was flying everywhere due to the gunfire.

Samantha moved her head away from his chest when the shooting stopped.  Then the walls and floor started to shift. “Its moving again!” she exclaimed. The Doctor grabbed her hand and they ran. As did everyone else.

Without warning the floor beneath Samantha and the Doctor moved, making them fall into the small space below. The stone floor, now the ceiling to the pair, slid shut effectively trapping them. “You, ok?” the Time Lord asked the brunette who nodded.

“Think so”, Samantha replied. She looked up at the ceiling “how are we gonna get out of this one?”

In response, the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver. He flashed it at the ceiling. “No, good”, he said “whatever made the walls and floor move, I can’t key into it”.

“Ok, plan B”, Samantha said walking over to one of the walls.

“Plan B?” the Doctor asked raising an eyebrow.

“Looking for something that’ll open one of the walls or reveal a hidden door”, Samantha answered feeling along the smooth surface.

“You really think there’s going to be a secret switch or a certain spot you have to hit so we can get out of here?” the Doctor asked sceptically.

Samantha turned to him “I don’t know Doctor. I’m trying to think outside the box, no pun intended. Besides its better than sitting on our backsides twiddling our thumbs”, she said and continued to look for her ‘secret switch’. The Doctor sighed and started to help her. Even though it was a crazy idea, she was right about it being something better to do than waiting around. And he for one was not so good at the waiting bit. 


	5. Chapter 5

After minutes of searching, Samantha threw up her hands in frustration “Nothing! No secret button or switch or special section of wall to hit. We’re stuck”, she complained.

“Don’t give up just yet Sam, there still might be a way out”, the Doctor said calmly, knowing that it wasn’t a good idea to get worked up.

“There isn’t one. So unless the walls and floors realign….” Samantha trailed off as a thought just occurred to her. She shoved her hand into her coat pocket sincerely hoping that it was still in there. “Yes!” she cheered producing her phone with a flourish.

“We can’t exactly call for help Sam”, the Doctor said “everyone else in a similar predicament”.

“That’s not what need the phone for”, Samantha said bringing up the stopwatch “how long would you say we’ve been in here?” she asked “and be as precise as possible”.

“Probably no more than 5 minutes”, the Doctor guessed. He would’ve checked his watch but he didn’t even look at the time they’d fallen into their little prison.

“Ok” Samantha fiddled with her phone “in about 5 minutes we should be able to get out” she told the Doctor “if my theory is right”.

“Which is?”

“There was an Aztec calendar on the sarcophagus which was part of the combination lock. That particular was metric based on multiples of ten”, Samantha replied “and if what I’m guessing is correct, the pyramid will reconfigure every 10 minutes. So in theory in about less than 5 minutes there will be an opening or more in our prison”.

“Seems like a pretty sound theory to me”, the Doctor remarked.

“Thanks. I’m just hoping it works”, Samantha said.

“Have a little faith in yourself Sammy. I’m sure your friend won’t have thought of it”, the Doctor said.

“Actually, I recon he would have considered that notion himself”, Samantha told him “he’s clever like that”.

“Can’t be that clever if he needs your help to translate things”, the Doctor commented.

“Its only easier for me to translate because the TARDIS changes almost everything into English”, Samantha reminded him.

“Yeah, but we’re not going to tell them that are we?” the Doctor asked with a grin.

“Nope we’re most definitely not”, Samantha agreed returning his grin. She glanced at her phone “only a minute and a half to go”, she reported.

The pair watched the numbers tick away on her phone.

60 seconds…

“I really, really hope this works”, Samantha muttered starting to feel unsure as the seconds pass.

“It will”, the Doctor said taking her hand.

30 seconds…

The Doctor gently squeezed her hand when he saw her bite her lip in worry.

15 seconds…

 _Please. Please let this work_ Samantha thought silently praying to the universe, hoping that someone…anyone was listening.

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…

Samantha’s phone beeped signalling that the time was up. There was nothing at first and then they heard it. The moving of stone. 

Then the pair saw the wall in front of them slide smoothly upwards revealing an exit. “I'm really glad I was right", Samantha said setting her phone alarm for 10 minutes “I reckon we're far enough into the Pyramid that we no longer need our coats and things", she added putting her phone away.

“Finally”, the Doctor said wasting no time in shedding his thick winter coat. His hat and gloves also joined his coat on the floor along with all of Samantha’s outer gear. They then cautiously entered the newly opened passage, Samantha keeping one hand on her ICER in case she needed to use it.

~labyrinth~

Lex, Sebastian, Weyland, Gwen and Maxwell make their way through the dark underground maze. The Irish woman and Weyland’s right hand man walked ahead, both of them alert, weapons at the ready.

As they walked Sebastian occasionally glanced back, his face one of concern for his old friend. “Worried about Sam?” Lex asked.

“Yeah”, Sebastian answered.

“You shouldn't be", Gwen called back “she can take care of herself. And even if she couldn't, she's in good hands. The Doctor won't let anything happen to her. Told me so himself".

“There, see, no need to worry”, Lex said “besides I'm sure we'll meet up with them pretty soon”.

“I suppose", Sebastian agreed, although he was a little reluctant. It wasn't that their words didn't comfort him, they did...It was just that he cared about Samantha. So it was natural for him to be worried about her.

Lex glanced down at her digital compass “If we can stay on this bearing, we should keep going up. If we can do that, we'll make it back to the entrance”, she informed the others.

“And hopefully meet up with the others”, Sebastian added. Lex nodded in agreement and then noticed Weyland starting to struggle with the weight of his backpack.

“Leave it. It can only slow us down”, Lex said knowing that the alien gun is what was making him struggle.

“Too much has been lost to walk away with nothing”, Weyland panted. Seeing that he didn’t want to leave the gun behind, Lex took the backpack from him. The group continued on for a short while until they all heard approaching footsteps. Maxwell signals the group to stop and he and Gwen pointed their weapons in the direction of the noise.

However, when they saw it was Samantha and the Doctor, they relaxed. “Don’t shoot, its only us”, Samantha said. Sebastian pushed his way past Gwen and Maxwell to give the brunette a relieved hug.

“I’m glad you’re alright”, he said happily.

“Me too”, Samantha said.

“I’m fine too, thanks for asking”, the Doctor spoke up with somewhat sarcasm.

But no one seemed to hear him. Samantha was too busy noting how few people there were in the group. She frowned. “Where’s Doctor Miller? And the others?” she asked concerned for them. They’d already lost too many people, she didn’t want to lose anyone else.

“We got separated from them, just like we did with you to”, Gwen answered.

“But with any luck, we’ll meet up with them as we get nearer the entrance”, Lex added. They continued to walk along the corridor until it opened up into a much larger room. Samantha frowned, getting the feeling that something wasn’t quite right about the darkness ahead of them.

“Wait”, she said loudly “there’s something – “ she was abruptly broken off when a Predator suddenly rushed out of the darkness towards them! Maxwell and Gwen fired their weapons at him but the Predator also shoots a large metal net at the pair. The black man is knocked off his feet as the net collided with him. Gwen barely managed to dive out of the way to avoid being snared by the metal net.

Maxwell screamed as the net drew itself tighter around him, cutting through his clothing and equipment like it was nothing. Weyland tried to pull the net off his friend but only succeeded in slicing his own gloves in the process. Sebastian and Gwen tried to cut through it but the blades of their knives merely snapped off.

Samantha’s eye’s widened felt something right behind herself and the Doctor. But before she could warn him, they were both knocked to the side, landing hard on the floor. Lex, Gwen and Weyland were also sent to the floor in the same manner. Sebastian is grabbed by the throat and lifted up by his feet. He gasped as his airways were being crushed by a seemingly invisible force. Well…not quite invisible, he could just about make out distortions in the air in a rough ‘person’ shape. It was a cloaked Predator.

Samantha groaned as she sat up. Her eyes widened when she saw her friend being choked. She glanced down at her hands. “Come on, come on”, she muttered willing the time vortex to make an appearance. If it was a time for it to help, it was now.

She grinned when her hands faintly glowed with a golden light. Samantha got to her feet, preparing to use it when the 1st Predator lunged at her. There was a bright burst of gold sending both the Predator and the brunette flying through the air. The Doctor scrambled to his feet, rushing over to where his companion lay motionless on the ground. He checked her for a pulse and was glad when he found one. He then took out his sonic to scan her for injuries.

While he was doing this, Lex had attempted to attack the cloaked Predator only to be viciously beaten down by the first Predator. Gwen shared the same fate when she’d come to the aid of her friend. Although she had lasted a little longer thanks to her combat training.

Maxwell shares a look with his boss and friend right before the Predator choking Sebastian rammed a spear straight through his chest, killing him instantly. Gwen struggled to her feet, not about to make it easy for the first Predator to finish herself and her best friend off.

“Come on ugly, lets dance”, she said, her Irish accent very prominent in her voice. The first Predator charges but it suddenly stopped when a barbed tail burst through the Predator’s chest. Gwen watched, eyes wide as the Predator is lifted into the air and saw the Alien that had been hiding on the ceiling.

The second Predator registers the Alien’s presence in the room. He tossed Sebastian away and uncloaks. Gwen quickly gets out of the way as the Alien threw the dead Predator away and jumped down from the ceiling. The Irish woman hurried over to Sebastian and Lex, helping them to their feet as the alien warriors face off against each other. Sebastian and Lex managed to get Weyland to stand, holding him between themselves in order to support him. Gwen on the other hand snatched up her gun, slinging the strap across her body. The Doctor gathered up the still unconscious Samantha and they made their escape out of the room.

~staircase~

The group hurries up a large stone staircase, Gwen in the lead, closely followed by the Doctor who was still carrying Samantha. Lex, Sebastian and Weyland brought up the rear. “What was that thing?” Sebastian asked, his voice still hoarse from almost being choked to death.

“You tell me ... You and Sam are the pyramid experts”, Lex answered. The Doctor paused on the step when he heard his companion groan. He glanced down to see Samantha starting to stir.

“What happened?” she mumbled opening her eyes.

“Maxwell is dead”, the Doctor replied “as is one of the Predators. The other is fighting a Xenomorph…” when she gave him a confused look, he elaborated “the Predator’s ‘prey’”.

“Oh”, Samantha said then a thought suddenly occurred to her “Sebastian! Is he ok?!”

“I’m fine Sammy”, Sebastian called as the brunette tried to get out of the Doctor’s arms to see if her friend was with him. The Time Lord set her down though he kept a firm but gentle hold on her just in case she was a bit unstable.

“Glad to see you in one piece”, she remarked “all three of you”.

“Hey! What about me?” Gwen called.

“Yeah, you too Gwen”, Samantha said giving her a smile. Suddenly Weyland collapsed to his knees and started to hyperventilate.

“I have to stop!” he cried.

“Take it easy”, Lex said gently but Weyland wasn’t listening, he was in too much of a panic. The black woman takes Weyland’s head in her hands “Look at me...” the man does so “...you've taken too much air into your lungs.  They're starting to freeze. You have to control your breathing. Slow steady breaths.  Slow... steady ...” Weyland starts to slow his breathing “that's it”. She, Sebastian, the Doctor, Samantha and Gwen watched as the man calmed down, his breathing going back to normal.

“I'm okay... I'm okay”, he panted.

“Come on”, Lex grabbed hold of his arm and hauled him to his feet.

“No…I can't”, Weyland managed to say “It's hard enough to stand”. He slumped against the wall of the stair case.

“Weyland...” Lex started.

“Don't...” Weyland cut in.

“I'm not letting you die down here”, Lex said.

“None of us are”, Gwen added firmly.

“Yes, you are”, Weyland said matching her tone, though her voice was much weaker “Go. I'll buy you whatever time I can”.

At the bottom of the stairs, two looming shadows appeared. It’s two Predators. Weyland spotted them both and struggled to his feet, grabbing his ice axe as he did so. Samantha tried to dart after him but the Doctor stopped her, knowing the sacrifice the man was about to make. “All of you get out of here, now!” Weyland ordered.

“What can’t just leave him!” Samantha protested as the Doctor dragged her up the stairs, Gwen, Lex and Sebastian close on their heels.

“He made his choice Sam”, the Doctor said.

“But –“ Samantha started when the Doctor cut in with

“He’s dying. I don’t think Weyland expected to return from this trip” seeing how upset his companion looked he added in a gentler tone “I’m sorry, Sam. He’s doing what he think is right to help us”.

Samantha nodded slowly “But he is the last one”, she said trying to stop herself from crying “no one else is going to die”.


	6. Chapter 6

The next room the 5 of them entered was a vast chamber filled with numerous stone pillars and statues. Even with their torches, the room was still pretty dark. Lex glanced at her digital compass. “We keep moving and stay on the heading. We keep it together. Make it to the surface”, she said.

“Sounds like a good idea to me”, Gwen agreed. They slowly continued through the chamber, unaware that they were being watched. Suddenly both Samantha’s phone and Sebastian’s watch beeped. Their 10 minutes were up!

“It's moving!” Gwen cried as the stone walls started to shift once again “come on!”

The Irish woman made a break for the doorway where a wall was smoothly rising upwards. She scrambled up and over it, Samantha quickly following suit. Unfortunately the gap was too small for anyone else to fit through without being crushed. “Doctor this way!” Lex shouted rushing for another exit with Sebastian while the Time Lord was staring at dismay at the wall separating him from his companion. It was only when Lex shouted for him again that the Doctor moved towards the pair. He managed to slip past another closing wall before it crashed shut behind him.

Samantha stood at the wall that she and Gwen had just climbed over. “Uh…Gwen? We’ve just got separated from the others”, she said making the blonde woman turn back.

“Well…that might be a problem”, Gwen remarked.

“You don’t say”, Samantha muttered with plenty of sarcasm.

The Doctor was not happy at all. He was stuck with Lex and Sebastian who weren’t exactly fighters. And Samantha was not by his side. How in the universe was he supposed to know...the Time Lord’s thought trailed off when he remembered that they both had phones, his one courtesy of FitzSimmons. They also both had Universal Roaming, thanks to his sonic screwdriver.

“I’m not sure who you’re going to call Doctor”, Sebastian said noticing the Time Lord getting out a mobile from his pocket “you won’t be able to get a signal in here”. The Doctor refrained from making a cutting retort as he dialled Samantha.

“How are you getting a signal in here?” Gwen asked in surprise as Samantha’s phone started to ring.

“It’s a long story”, the brunette replied. She hit the answer button and put it to her ear “Doctor”, she greeted.

 _“Sam, are you ok?”_ the Doctor asked.

“Gwen and I are fine”, Samantha replied, glancing at the blonde “How about you and the others?” she questioned as she and Gwen started to walk.

 _“We’re fine”,_ the Doctor answered _“try to head towards the entrance and keep this line open”._

“Will do”, Samantha said switching over to speaker on her mobile. She and Gwen walked, keeping the Doctor updated on their progress and vice versa.

As they entered a new room, Samantha stopped. “What's wrong?” Gwen asked.

“I don't know”, Samantha replied “but I'm getting this feeling we're not alone”. She cautiously continued forward. Gwen made to follow when she heard a noise. She glanced upwards, her eyes widening when she saw an Alien on the ceiling, right above Samantha!

“Look out!” the Irish woman shouted before she darted forwards, tackling the brunette out of way of what would have been a fatal blow from the Allen's razor sharp tail. This move caused Samantha's phone to become dislodged from where she'd secured it. It landed on the floor with a loud clatter.

On the other end of the phone, the Doctor was hearing everything that was going on. “Sam!” he shouted after hearing cries from both woman and the occasional scream “What's going on?!”

“ _Get off her you ugly mother f-_ ”

“Sam!” the Doctor shouted again as his companion’s voice was abruptly cut off. There was deathly silence on the other end. “Sammy talk to me!” he begged.

The call cut out.

The Doctor quickly dialled her back.

_“Hiya! I'm currently unavailable but if you just leave a message at the tone, I'll get back to you as soon as possible!”_

_BEEP!_

The Doctor slowly lowered the phone from his ear. If she wasn't answering it meant one thing. He'd lost her. Immediately his hearts started to break at the thought of not seeing her again.

Her smile...her laugh...no more.

There was so many places he wanted to take her, but will never get the chance.

He never told her how much he cared for her. Never told her that he...loved her.

Back with Gwen and Samantha, they were facing off against a very ticked off Alien. “How good are you at throwing?” the brunette asked doing her best to ignore the dull ache in her arms from using a fair bit of the Time Vortex to knock the Alien off of Gwen, breaking of the end of its tail.

“Very good”, Gwen answered eyeing the Alien as it prepared to charge “Why?”

Samantha snatched up the sharp end of the Alien’s tail “because when I say, I need you to throw this as hard as you can”, she said. Gwen took it from her and readied it as the Alien began to charge towards them.

Samantha stared at the fast approaching Alien, willing the time vortex to appear one more time. “Now!” she shouted when she saw her hands glow brightly. Gwen threw the piece of tail just like it was a javelin. Samantha tossed as much time vortex as she could at it. The golden light hit the piece of tail, sending it hurtling through the air towards the Alien.

It let out a horrific screech as the tail rammed into its chest, getting deeply embedded thanks to the time vortex. Samantha and Gwen watched the Alien collapse onto the floor, the momentum making it slide along the floor before it came to a complete stop mere inches from the two females.

They quickly stepped back eyeing the Alien warily as they had no clue if it was dead or just faking. After a minute or two of it not moving, Gwen and Samantha relaxed slightly. Then suddenly the brunette's legs buckled, almost falling to the floor if Gwen hadn't grabbed her in time.

“Sorry”, Samantha said tiredly “Used too much in one go. Need a rest” and with that she passed out for the second time. Gwen carefully sat down on the floor, holding onto Samantha. As she sat there waiting for Samantha to regain consciousness, Gwen had no idea that she was being watched by a cloaked Predator.

He should be killing them right now. One of them was unconscious and the other was distracted. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. The females had proved themselves to be capable warriors by taking down that Xenomorph. If they'd been Yautja, both of them would be worthy to receive the warriors mark.

\------

Gwen didn’t have to wait too long before Samantha began to stir. “You ok there?” she asked the brunette as she carefully helped her stand.

“Yeah”, Samantha replied “sorry about that”.

“That’s ok. But um…what was that gold stuff?” Gwen questioned.

“It’s a lo –“ Samantha broke off when she noticed a section of the air was slightly distorted from over Gwen’s shoulder “Gwen there’s a Predator about a foot behind you”, she warned in a low voice. The Irish woman gripped her gun and turned around, pointing her weapon at the cloaked Predator.

“We know you’re there. Show yourself”, she ordered. Much to Samantha surprise, instead of attacking them, the Predator uncloaked. “Listen buddy, we easily took down that thing…” Gwen jerked her head at the dead Alien “and I have no problems with taking you on…”

“There’s no need”, the Predator said “I’m not going to fight you”.

A flicker of confusion crossed Samantha’s face “I must’ve misheard you, but it sounded like you said you weren’t going to fight us”, she said earning her a strange look from Gwen.

“That is what I said”, Celtic confirmed.

“You understand him Sam?” Gwen asked.

“I do”, Samantha replied “and before you ask, I’d be happy to explain once this is all over”. Gwen nodded.

“So why aren’t you going to fight us?” Samantha demanded “you and your friend had no qualms doing that earlier”.

“I saw you take down that Xenomorph”, Celtic answered “you’ve showed that you’re both capable warriors and you have my respect”.

“What did he say?” Gwen asked.

“He says that we’re capable warriors and we’ve earned his respect”, Samantha reiterated. 

Gwen looked surprised but quickly composed herself “Thank you…uh…” she glanced at Samantha “what’s his name?” she asked.

Before the brunette could ask, Celtic told them his name. “His name is Celtic”, Samantha translated.

“Thank you Celtic”, Gwen said and the Predator gave her a single nod to let her know he understood.

“As you’ve both proven yourselves, I suggest an alliance to get rid of the remaining Xenomorphs”, Celtic suggested.

Samantha raised her brows “are you serious? I appreciate you not killing us but why would we consider an alliance? You or your friend killed Maxwell! You guys both attacked us!”

Gwen placed hand on the angry brunette’s arm in an attempt to calm her “why I don’t disagree with you on that front…an alliance might not be such a bad thing. The enemy of my enemy is my friend”, she said. When Samantha didn’t say anything, Gwen added “look, we’re out matched and out gunned. If Celtic is willing to join us so that we _all_ get out of here, then we should go for it. Besides it was you who said ‘no one else is going to die’”.

Samantha sighed, Gwen made some very good points. She didn’t have to like it but an alliance with the Predator was probably their best chance of getting out alive. “Alright. We’ll partner up”, she said “ _but_ this alliance extends to Lex, Sebastian and the Doctor. It also means that if your friend is still alive he works with us too, got it?”

Celtic gave a single nod “I agree with your terms”, he said.

Samantha glanced at Gwen “we’re working together, all of us”, she told her.

The blonde smiled “good”, she said pleased that at least something was going right today.


	7. Chapter 7

The trio stride along at a reasonably quick pace, Celtic carrying his spear in both hands. Gwen and Samantha were both holding knives fashioned from the Alien’s tail. They also had makeshift shields created from the Alien’s armour. Celtic had showed them that the Alien’s acidic blood couldn’t get through the creatures natural armour plating.

Suddenly they heard a distant sound of stone moving. Their 10 minutes were up again and the Pyramid was reconfiguring once more. “Get ready for anything”, Samantha said tightening her grip on her knife. She, Gwen and Celtic stood close together, all keeping an eye on different directions, watching for any movement of stone.

The noise grew louder as stones closer to them began to move.

Then the one in front of Samantha started to shift. “Guys, this one is moving”, she warned Celtic and Gwen. All three of them watched tense, ready to fight if necessary. Only they didn’t have to as the wall revealed Lex, Sebastian, the Doctor and another Predator.

“Sam!” the Time Lord exclaimed overjoyed to see his companion standing there very much alive.

“Doctor”, Samantha said equally happy to see him. She dropped her shield and knife when the Doctor moved forward, embracing her in a tight hug. The brunette was rather shocked when he pulled back only to cup her face and kiss her!

“I love you”, he declared.  

Samantha stared at him, rather speechless by his declaration. Admittedly she was starting to develop some feelings towards the Time Lord but she had no clue he even felt the same way about her. “I…uh…” she stammered, still finding it difficult to even know what to say.

“I knew it!” Gwen blurted out pointing at the Doctor “I knew you liked her more than just a friend!”

Before the Doctor could say anything, Scar spoke up “is this your mate, lord of time?” the two Predators had noted the Doctor’s dual heartbeats and knew immediately what he was.

“I suppose you could say she is”, the Time Lord said with a grin. Samantha just stood there still rather shocked by what happened although there was a bit of red in her cheeks from being called the Doctor’s mate.

Suddenly there was a blood-curling scream which echoed alone the long stone corridor. “What the hell was that?” Sebastian asked. Gwen noted how scared Celtic looked when he heard the noise. That was a first. A formidable warrior alien such as himself was afraid? If he was afraid then they all should be.

“We need to run. Now”, the Doctor ordered grasping hold of Samantha’s hand tightly. He’d just got her back, there was no way in the universe he was ever letting her go.

“Agreed”, Lex said and they all took off, away from the noise.

\-------------

The group raced through the corridors and back into the Sacrificial Chamber. “We can’t let those things get out of here”, Gwen stated as they crossed the room to the other side. Scar and Celtic exchanged glances before they both pressed buttons on a device strapped to their wrists.

“What is that?” Samantha asked.

“A bomb”, Scar replied.

“I hope two of those are powerful enough to kill every single Xenomorph in the godforsaken place”, Samantha said.

“Those are like mini atomic bombs”, the Doctor told her “they’ll do the job”. Scar and Celtic removed the device/bomb from their wrists and hurled it back the way they came.

“Time to run again”, Samantha muttered as they did just that.

\--------------

“Whoa!” Samantha cried as she slid down the icy steps having lost her footing as they all raced down them.

“Are you ok?” the Doctor asked helping her up.

“A little sore but I’ll live”, Samantha answered. She, the Doctor, Lex, Gwen, Sebastian and the two Predators sprint towards the mouth of the tunnel where two equipment ‘sleds’ were waiting. Not wasting anytime at all, Gwen and Lex sent the ‘sleds’ going. The Doctor, Samantha and Sebastian quickly clambered onto one of the ‘sleds’, holding on tightly. Lex, Gwen and the two Predators were about to get on the other one when all of a sudden an Alien jumped onto the back on Celtic.

Scar immediately went to help his comrade when another Alien appeared. Gwen noticed a Piton gun attached to the ‘sled’ and quickly snatched it up. She pointed it at the Alien attacking Celtic and fired.

Perfect headshot.

The Predator nodded a thanks to the blonde. Scar didn’t take long to dispatch the Alien he was fighting against and then all four of them jumped onto the ‘sled’, clinging on for dear life as it whizzed up the tunnel.

Everyone minus the Predators yell as the two ‘sleds’ leap out of the tunnel, ploughing into the snow, throwing all the riders off. Despite this, they all managed to get quickly to their feet and started to run as fast as they could to get as far away as possible before the two Predator bombs exploded.

Samantha panted as she ran through the Whaling Station still holding tightly onto the Doctor’s hand, feeling a stitch in her side. But she didn’t stop, she couldn’t afford to stop. Then without warning, a massive fireball burst from the tunnel. The Predator bombs had gone off!

It swept through the Whaling Station, setting buildings alight and throwing debris into the air. All the Aliens that had been trying to pursue the group were taken out by the fire. The force of the explosion knocked them all off their feet. The Doctor covered Samantha’s body with his own to protect her from raining building parts. He barely had a chance to ask her if she was ok when what was left of the buildings started to collapse around them and the snow and ice began to crack beneath their feet.

The Doctor tugged Samantha to her feet and ran as fast as he could. Lex, Gwen, Sebastian and the two Predators hot on their heels. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter how fast they ran, the cracks already spread far ahead of them.

The Time Lord, Samantha and Gwen managed to jump the gap easily as it wasn’t too large. The Predators were able to cross the gap as well. Lex and Sebastian had to jump slightly further, almost not making it if it wasn’t for Gwen grabbing Lex’s hand and Samantha quickly grasping her Italian friend’s arm. The brunette flopped down against the snow, despite how cold it was, she didn’t want to move another inch.

Lex watched as Scar took out a piece of the Alien from his belt and approached her. She flinched but didn’t make a sound as the Predator etched the warrior’s mark on her cheek. Celtic noted this and decided that if that particular female had done enough to deserve the mark then so had the two females that he’d met. They’d more than earned it in fact.

He turned to Gwen and tapped her on the shoulder. “What is it?” she asked. Celtic pointed to the mark on Lex’s cheek “You want to give me one too?” The Predator nodded. The blonde didn’t even flinch or make a noise when Celtic put the mark on her left cheek. The Predator then pointed to Samantha who by now was sitting up, leaning against the Doctor. “You want to give her one as well?” Gwen questioned. Celtic nodded once again. “Hey Sam!” she called to the brunette “could you come here for a second?”

Samantha got up from where she sat with the Doctor and walked over to them. “He would like to give you this mark” Gwen pointed to the mark on her cheek.

“Ok…why?” Samantha asked.

“It is a warrior’s mark”, Celtic told her “you both have earned it”.

“Really?” Samantha asked and Celtic nodded “that’s quite an honour, thank you”, she added in a polite tone. The brunette doubted very much that the Yautja were in the habit of giving their warrior mark to someone who wasn’t one of their own. Samantha stood very still as the Predator etched the mark on to her skin.

The Doctor watched this, his hearts full of pride for his companion and as the Predator put it his mate. He’d never known a human to receive the Yautja’s warrior mark and yet Samantha, Gwen AND Lex have all got it. A potential first step towards a Predator-human alliance. Actually, it was more like the potential second step. The first being that Celtic seemed to stick close to Gwen. Could it be that he saw her as a potential mate? If so this was turning out to be not only a deadly detour but a turning point in the history of humans and Predators alike.

Suddenly a very large Alien burst through the snow behind them! It is the Queen and she is out for blood for the slaughter of her children. Scar and Celtic react with lightening precision they both fired two sharp blades from their wrist guards into the Queen’s neck. They then fling a metal throwing disk at her. Scar’s one sliced the Alien’s neck, leaving a nasty but not fatal wound. Celtic’s metal disk, sliced off a chunk of the Queen’s crown.

Celtic reach out to catch his disk but before he could grab it, the Alien’s tail whips around flinging both Predators into the remains of a building. The pair tried to get up but the Queen smacked them harder into the ground. “No!” Gwen shouted charging at the Alien as she stood over the prone forms of the Predators, preparing to finish them off.

The angry Irish woman threw her knife at the Alien where it embedded itself into the wound on her neck. Lex’s spear and Samantha’s own knife quickly followed Gwen’s knife into the wound on the Alien’s neck. The Queen screamed in pain.

“Go! Go!” Samantha shouted as the now enraged Queen turned her attention to the three humans who’d attacked her. Samantha, Lex and Gwen took off across the snow.

“Doctor we’ve got to help them!” Sebastian exclaimed as the Alien Queen chased after the females.

“I know. Try to wake Celtic and Scar. I’ll go help the girls”, the Doctor said. Sebastian nodded and hurried over to the unconscious Predators. The Time Lord ran after the fleeing trio and their angry pursuer.

Samantha, Gwen and Lex raced through the whale bones, the large ribs curving around them like a giant cage. Then the bones began to fly everywhere behind them as the Alien Queen crashed through, desperate to get to her prey.

The three females quickly change direction, darting between the ribs. The Queen tried to go after them but due to her size and the speed she was going at, the Alien overbalanced, falling heavily onto the snow and ice, completely demolishing the remaining whale bones.

Despite this fall, the Queen was back on her feet in mere seconds and continued her hunt on Samantha, Gwen and Lex. “There!” Lex shouted pointing to the Separator, their only piece of cover against the Alien Queen. They quickly close the distance between themselves and the Separator and dive underneath it. All of them yell as the Queen slams into the Separator causing it to rapidly drop a few feet, almost crushing the trio if Samantha hadn’t managed to summon some time vortex in time.

She, Gwen and Lex flinch as the Alien Queen start to smash through the remaining supports with her claws and tail. The Separator starts to tip over the edge. The Doctor, who’d by this point had managed to catch up with them, had seen the Separator move. If it went completely over, the girls would be at the mercy of the Alien Queen. He had to do something!

The Doctor opened his mouth to shout, when he spotted a flicker of movement. It was Celtic and Scar. They were making their way to the Alien Queen. _Right time for a distraction_ he thought. “Hey you!” he shouted, gaining the Alien Queen’s attention “get the hell away from them!”

Taking advantage of the distraction, Scar and Celtic acted. They leapt at the Queen, driving their spears clean through the side of her head. She howled in pain.

Samantha, Gwen and Lex scrambled out from underneath the still moving Separator. As they did so, Lex noticed that there were several restraints attached to the Alien Queen. She nudged Gwen, pointed to one of the chains and then to the Separator. The blonde nods, understanding. She silently conveys the same to Samantha. The three of them grab the chain and drag it over to the Separator. The Doctor noticed what they were doing and quickly went over to help, with all three of them plus the two Predators, they were easily able to hook the chain onto the Separator which was inches away from completely toppling over the edge.

Just as they hooked the chain on, Gwen saw the Alien’s Queen’s tail lift up, ready to impale the nearest Predator which happened to be Celtic. “Look out!” she shouted shoving him out of the way as the tail came down. But before it could even wound the Irish woman in anyway, it was stopped by a blast of time vortex.

“You will NOT touch her”, Samantha said angrily. The Queen snarled at the brunette and made for her when the final leg of the Separator gave way and it tumbled over the cliff taking the Alien with it. The group watched as the ice beneath the Queen and the Separator cracked, breaking up under the combined weight of both.

The Alien Queen plunged into the freezing waters, the Separator quickly dragging her down into the dark depths. A set of running footsteps, caught off their attention. It was Sebastian. “What did I miss?” he asked.

“Quite a lot actually”, Samantha answered “but its safe to say that its over”. She shivered making the Doctor put an arm around her. To be honest the cold hadn’t really bothered her earlier as she was too busy fighting for her life but now…now she could most definitely feel it and kinda wished she’d kept her coat on.

Then Gwen spied something…or more accurately several something’s on a low rise which overlooked the area where they were standing. Dozens of Predators. “Uh…guys?” she said “you might want to see this”. They followed her gaze to the Predator army.

“How long do you think they’ve been standing there?” Lex asked.

“They probably saw the whole thing”, Samantha answered. Scar and Celtic walked towards the rise, the others following. When they reached it, the two young Predators nodded in respect to their elders. The three humans and Time Lord watched as Celtic received his warrior mark due to his contribution towards the battle with the Alien Queen. The young Predator glanced at Gwen and she smiled at him.

“Congratulations”, she said “you definitely deserve it”. Celtic then said something that the blonde didn’t understand but Samantha and the Doctor did. It made the pair exchange looks. “Uh, what did he say Sam?” Gwen asked glancing at her.

“He was asking if you wanted to come with him”, Samantha said “I think he…likes you”.

Gwen’s eyes widened “Oh…well I appreciate the offer but I’m gonna stay here…at least for the moment”, she said. Celtic nodded in understanding. The Predator was disappointed but at least it wasn’t an outright ‘no way’.

A Predator Elder stepped forward with three weapons which he gave to Lex, Samantha and Gwen. He nodded in respect to each of them. The Doctor knew by this gesture that the other Predators had acknowledged them as warriors. The Elder joined the rest of the Predators and gestured to Scar and Celtic. “It was an honour to fight with you both”, Celtic told Samantha and Gwen “I hope one day we will fight together again”. Samantha translated his words for the blonde.

“When that day comes, I will enjoy fighting by your side Celtic”, Gwen said giving him another smile.

“Likewise”, Samantha agreed. The group watched as the new Predator warriors joined the Predator army before the all filed into the large ship waiting several feet away. Once all the Predators were on board, the ship lifted up into the air and flew off into the night sky. As the ship disappeared into the stars, the Doctor took Samantha’s hand. She glanced at him and he smiled. The brunette returned it, intertwining their fingers as she did so.

This was one deadly detour they weren’t going to forget anytime soon. But at the very least something good came out of it. And both Time Lord and companion couldn’t wait to see what to future had in store for them.


End file.
